Creamers are widely used as whitening agents with hot and cold beverages such as, for example, coffee, cocoa, tea, etc. They are commonly used in place of milk and/or dairy cream. Creamers may come in a variety of different flavors and provide mouthfeel, body, and a smoother texture. Creamers can be in liquid or powder forms. One disadvantage of powder forms is that they do not generally provide an impression of traditional dairy creamers. Another disadvantage of using powder creamers may include difficulties in dissolution when added to coffee, and also the possibility of having a non-homogeneous beverage. Fresh or refrigerated dairy, liquid whiteners usually provide good mouthfeel. However, they are unacceptable for people with dairy intolerance. They are also inconvenient to use due to short shelf life. Moreover, liquid dairy creamers deteriorate rapidly even under refrigeration conditions. A liquid creamer should be shelf-stable during storage without phase separation, creaming, gelation and sedimentation. The creamer should also retain a constant viscosity over time. When added to cold or hot beverages such a coffee or tea, the creamer should dissolve rapidly, provide a good whitening capacity, and remain stable with no feathering and/or sedimentation while providing a superior taste. Emulsions and suspensions are not thermodynamically stable, and there is a real challenge to overcome physico-chemical instability issues in the liquid creamers that contain oil and other insoluble materials, especially for the aseptic liquid creamers during long storage times and at ambient or elevated temperatures temperatures. Moreover, over time, creaming that can still be invisible in the liquid beverages stored at room and elevated temperatures can cause a plug in the bottle when refrigerated. A way to avoid the plug formation would be to use soft, liquid oils instead of hard fats. Oils that remain liquid and do not plug at both ambient and refrigerated temperatures are highly unsaturated and in consequence oxidative unstable. Development of rancid or other off flavours due to oxidation of the fat component is a serious concern for the shelf-life of liquid creamers. Existing solutions include the use of fully or partially hydrogenated oils with a high content of saturated or trans-fatty acids, respectively, and/or the use of artificial antioxidants. The use of hydrogenated oils, however, may be undesirable as a product with hydrogenated oil may be perceived as being less healthy, less natural, and of a lower quality. Unhydrogenated domestic commodity oils (such as soybean, canola and sunflower oils) have a tendency for rapid development of rancidity during storage.
In view of the previous discussion, there are numerous challenges in creating a liquid creamer without hydrogenated oil and with a low content of saturated and trans-fatty acids, which is homogeneous, shelf-stable, and shows good physical and oxidative stability.